


Trust

by HermsTheHermitcrab



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: 5+1 Things, Anxiety, Everyone Needs A Hug, Friendship, Gay Togami Byakuya, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insomnia, Lesbian Asahina Aoi, Multi, No character bashing, Paranoia, Post-Dangan Ronpa 1, Self-Doubt, Togami Byakuya is Bad at Feelings, Togami is emotionally Constipated, Trust, Trust Issues, but in reverse, impact of constant surveillance, impact of stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29785470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HermsTheHermitcrab/pseuds/HermsTheHermitcrab
Summary: They say that if a cat falls asleep close to you, it trusts you. Byakuya, in a lot of ways, was like a cat.Or: One time Byakuya doesn't fall asleep next to the other survivors and five times he does.A 5+1 but in reverse.
Relationships: Asahina Aoi & Fukawa Touko & Hagakure Yasuhiro & Kirigiri Kyouko & Naegi Makoto & Togami Byakuya, Asahina Aoi & Togami Byakuya, Fukawa Touko & Togami Byakuya, Hagakure Yasuhiro & Togami Byakuya, Kirigiri Kyouko & Togami Byakuya, Naegi Makoto & Togami Byakuya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Byakuya

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ^^
> 
> Thank you for reading this story. I hope you find it at least somewhat enjoyable. 
> 
> These "scenes" are technically set in a Story I was planning to write that would start after the six survivors open the doors to Hopes Peak and end somewhere after the events of v3.   
>  But, since I am not good at finishing long stories, I decided to try and finish a six-chapter story, before I set out to write a story that is who knows how long.
> 
> I try to make everything as understandable as possible though, so you won't have to know each little detail that happens in the story currently residing in my head.  
>  Also, English is not my first language so please don't expect any masterworks of prose ^^ 

This entire situation was stupid. Absolutely and tremendously stupid. Byakuya knew that, but that didn't mean that he had any power to change it. It was, after all, his own fault. The people that had picked them up from the streets of what had once been Tokyo, had offered them multiple rooms to stay in. But he had seen the fear in his companions' eyes. There was also a small chance that he had felt it himself and so, with the authority only an idiot could muster, he had demanded that they would stay together. No buts.

Which left him here. Lying on a quote-unquote bed in the corner of a chilly room, Naegi fast asleep on the cot next to his. He had demanded the lucky Student to sleep next to him, even though he knew that he would have to find an excuse for that come morning. From where his head rested slightly elevated on a pillow, he could barely make out the five other people occupying their own beds. They were sleeping sound and relatively peacefully, which was probably the biggest surprise. Even Kirigiri had drifted off at one point. Dim red light filtered through the grimy windows that hung just beneath the ceiling on the far wall of the room. Never in his nightmares had Byakuya expected to one day sleep in a room like this. But these weren't normal circumstances and as long as he didn't know what had happened to the Togami corporation he had no choice but to make do with what he was given. At least there weren't any cameras.

Besides, the day had been stressful, to say the least. The final trial, escaping Hopes Peak, wandering through a destroyed city that had once been their home, and finally being picked up by this weird group that had brought them here, had left his body and mind drained. The headache had started hours ago and had warped itself into a full-blown migraine. All he wanted was to close his eyes and sleep the pain and the exhaustion away.

Except, he couldn't.

Deep-set anxiety had formed in the pit of his stomach and Byakuya felt as if his entire body stood under an electric current. Something that kept every muscle tense, ready to jump up and get out of this bed, out of this room. He was no stranger to this feeling. It was the same feeling that had him convinced they were being followed, when they finally left their prison, even though Naegi kept insisting that where Byakuya saw shadows of men and women alike, there were only broken down houses and the sparse flora that tried to break through the debris. He had stopped mentioning the idea that someone could be behind them when Kirigiri had given him this look. Something achingly similar to pity and the last thing he wanted to see in any of their eyes. He didn't need their compassion. He was Togami Byakuya and a little paranoia, probably brought on by being followed and recorded for the past several weeks, would not hinder him.

Now that everyone was asleep and the only person he had to prove something to was himself, pretending had become a lot harder. It was as if his body was fighting itself. One part craved the sweet nothingness sleep would grand him, while the other part, the part Byakuya tended to listen to, screamed at him for being careless, for being weak.

And yet even Byakuya couldn't fight his physical needs forever. His eyes started drifting shut and while he managed to force them open once or twice it was only a matter of time before he blinked and they stayed closed. Darkness and with it fear enveloped him. 

He wasn't afraid of the dark. Childish fears like such had been driven out of him a long time ago. Still, dread gripped his heart. After all, people liked to say that no one was actually scared of darkness but of what was lurking inside it. Byakuya could understand that fear. The fear of the unknown, the fear of something being so close while at the same time, hiding from all of his senses. His imagination knew this weakness of his and as such it gifted him vivid images of what was happening beyond his eyelids. Images of a pigtailed face hovering mere centimeters above his own. A long tongue darting out to moisten chapped lips. The glint of scissors in the red light filling the room. The rational part of his mind knew that Fukawa was asleep on the other side of the room, that even Syo couldn't have covered the distance between them in the mere second he had his eyes closed. But the irrational part, the part fueled by anxiety and paranoia, could feel her hot breath ghosting over his face. He knew she was there, ready to strike at the slightest hint of movement.

Byakuya ripped his eyes open.

He was greeted by nothing. Or at least nothing he hadn't seen before his eyes had drifted shut. The others were still lying on their beds, none of them had moved. It had only been a few seconds, not even a full minute. He suppressed a sigh. Sleep was, as it appeared, of the table for the night. Even though his body craved it, his mind just wouldn't let him rest. He knew that once he got up and started walking around, his body would just power through the next hours and hopefully that would mean that, come next night, he would be so exhausted that his body just shut off, and his head would quiet down enough for him to drift off.

As quiet as possible, waking the others would just result in unnecessary inquiries that he was not willing to answer, Byakuya sat on the edge of his cot and slipped on the shoes he had taken off for the night. The jacket came next and slowly but decidedly the young heir made his way to the door and out of the room. Maybe he could find someone that could answer the many questions that swirled in his mind, ever since the last trail had ended, or at least someone that could get him coffee.


	2. Yasuhiro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to come out on Thursday but a head-splitting migraine on my day off kept me from writing. Still, it is probably the fastest I have ever posted a second chapter to anything, so I am at least somewhat proud of myself for that.  
>  The beginning of this chapter could appear a little out of context, which it technically is since these chapters are - as I said before - set during a story that I have not written yet, but I think that everything necessary is explained.  
>  I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
>  Also, side note. I don't know how to write people talking, but I am trying to get better. Any and all comments are welcomed and very much appreciated. I love hearing from you and your opinions 

Hiro wasn't a worrisome person by nature. Cowardly, sure, he had no qualms admitting such, but constant worry had never been his forté. However, when his gut told him that a situation was not to be messed with, he knew that caution was of utmost importance. And as it happened to be, his gut was currently doing backflips. They had hunkered down in an abandoned subway car, which, to their luck, had broken down close to an aboveground station. Some of the windows had been smashed, the doors stood open, and graffiti was sprayed on almost every surface. Most prominent were the bold black letters, that had been sprayed above the entirety of one row of seats. **'HOPE IS DEAD'** it read, and Hiro felt sick. But that wasn't the reason his fight or flight response, as always geared towards flight, was making itself so predominantly noticeable. It was the fact that they had separated.

The others had gone back out there to look for any resources they could use, while Hiro had stayed behind with Togami. Speaking of the heir, he was sitting across some of the cleaner seats, even though the word clean was pretty far-fetched, his back resting against a seat divider. From what Hiro could tell the wound on his leg had stopped bleeding, or at least not bled through the makeshift bandages Kirigiri had fastened around them and since his eyes were closed, Hiro hoped that he had fallen asleep.

That on the other hand, also meant that it fell upon Hiro to make sure no one was closing in on their little hideout. The Subway car wasn't the perfect place to lay low, but with its tinted windows, it at least offered a relatively clear view to their surroundings, at least in those places where the actual window peaked through the graffiti. It also offered at least slight safety from the elements. Elements like the thunder that rumbled in the distance.  
Hiro bit his lip. The last thing they needed was a storm. Hopefully, the others would make it back, before the rain started.

With only a few steps Hiro had moved from one side of the car to the other, trying to peer out into the ever-growing darkness. What would he do if the others didn't come back? He'd have to go out and look for them, right? But that would mean leaving Togami to his own devices. They weren’t the best of friends, hell Hiro would be surprised if the heir considered him as anything more than an acquaintance, but that didn’t mean that Hiro could just abandon the younger man. After everything they’d been through, he needed to hold on to the little stability he had left.

Tapping his foot anxiously on the ground, Hiro moved away from the window and to one of the doors that, due to the lack of electricity, weren’t able to close. A chilly wind greeted him when he dared to peek his head outside. It was easier to see from here, but also a lot easier to be seen, and as soon as he had made sure that none of his friends, were coming back from that direction, the clairvoyance retracted his head.

He moved to the window, opposite of the one he had been at before but still there was no sign of anyone. Maybe the empty roads and spaces should have helped calm his nerves, after all, who knew what lurked in the streets he had once called home, but everything he wanted was to see a sign, of one of the others. Even if it was just their silhouette moving from one building to another.

He was about to move back to the first window when a sudden hiss stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Will you stop this excessive pacing.” So much, for the heir being asleep. Hiro turned around to smile sheepishly back at the younger man, but Togami's eyes were still closed.

“Sorry”, he laughed while clearing his throat. “I’m just nervous, you know?”

“Then stop”, was the cold reply. Before Hiro could retort with his own comment, Togami added: “And do not start biting your nails, it is disgusting and unhygienic.”

Hiro blinked looking at the other man who still seemed perfectly content with keeping his eyes closed and then to the hand that had absentmindedly made its way towards his mouth. How had Togami even known what he was about to do?  
Still, thankful for the distraction, Hiro dropped his weight on one of the seats not occupied by the other one’s legs.  
“Are you actually trying to tell me, that you don’t have any nervous habits?” he said.

“That would be correct.”  
Hiro laughed, actual genuine laughter. And even though it was short-lived, it made him feel a little better. “Well, don’t worry dude. You’ll become a real boy in no time Pinocchio.” To his surprise, this seemed to get the heir’s attention. Blue eyes cracked open and the warmth that had just started to fill Hiro's chest almost froze at the icy glare send his way. “What?”

“Pinocchio! You know, the puppet that comes alive and wants to be a real boy?”

“Yes, I know the story. I am asking how it translates to me.”  
Hiro shrugged. “Oh, that’s just because you don’t always do things as most people do. And there’s just a lot you don’t know.”

“Excuse me?” if possible, the stare got even colder. Damn Hiro truly knew how to talk himself into a mess.

“Dude, calm down!” he tried “It’s not like that. You’re obviously like super smart and stuff. There are just certain things that most common people know and you… don’t. Like how to use a vending machine or make instant coffee. Be honest, do you know how to handle a washing machine?”  
Togami scoffed. “You must realize how insulting this is, coming from the likes of you.” Then, to Hiro's surprise, he hesitated for a second. “And I would presume it to be rather intuitive.”

“See, and that’s where you would be wrong. It can be a lot harder than one might think. With all the different options and dials and compartments.”

“You are an embarrassment to humankind.” And with that Togami closed his eyes again, ending their conversation on the spot.

Hiro sighed. That had probably been the longest conversation he had ever had with the other. Even though it had ended in an insult, it was sort of nice to be able to just joke around with someone, for a little bit. The world had become so dreary and gloomy that having fun, even at one’s own expanse, somehow felt out of place.  
He leaned back in his seat, resting his head on the window behind him. Sometimes he still felt like all of this was a dream. Like any moment he would wake up and hear his mother somewhere in the apartment. But that was wishful thinking. Even he knew that.

The anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach was back and Hiro could feel his legs starting to bounce with nervous energy. He got up, marching over to the opposite side of the car, before remembering, why Togami had started talking to him in the first place.  
“I know, Dude. Sorry, I can’t just sit around…. Oh” He had turned around ready to explain himself to the younger man, except when his eyes fell on the heir this time, there was no question that he was actually asleep.

Hiro had often heard that people looked younger in their sleep. Togami didn’t. He just looked dead. His place complexion was ashen, and a blue tint had befallen his lips. Only the slow rise and fall of his chest kept Hiro from marching over there and shaking him awake. So no, Togami did not look younger in his sleep. If possible, he looked older than he was.  
But he wasn't, Hiro reminded himself. He was barely an adult. And even though Hiro had never quite figured out how to be one himself, a sudden pang of responsibility seemed to shock him to his core. He was the oldest of them. The others should be able to look to him for guidance but instead, he had to rely on Naegis leadership and Kirigiris intelligence. They all put something on the table, be it brains or brawn. And then there was him. What did he add to the mix that was their little team?  
He wasn’t determined like Fukawa or brave like Hina, or even particularly strong. Maybe Togami was right, maybe he was just an embarrassment. Or maybe he just had to find the role he was supposed to fill. Maybe the vision showing him his way was yet to come.  
The oldest member of the group sighed again, as he noticed Togami’s sleeping form shiver in the cold air that blew in through the open door. He slid the jacket off his own shoulders, placing it over the other, without disturbing his slumber. No matter what role he would take, it was better to start somewhere.


End file.
